TL;DR the colours of the R500 and the 620R are not what you think they are
As I alluded to in my previous post, I had the chance to meet my heroes at the Caterham factory last Wednesday (Dec 18th 2024). Here's the proper story that covers the visit.
They say to never meet your heroes. In this case, it didn't disappoint, but the cars do not look exactly like the press pictures and various videos led me to believe.
The famous Superlight R500, that shed a lot of light on Caterham by being faster than the Bugatti Veyron for a fraction of the price (~£35k vs £1M) is actually not white with red stripes.
It didn't prevent it from being a genius marketing coup as it did a lot of good for the brand, thus its presence on display there. The stripes are actually orange, with darker pinning.
The quote about the Stig and happiness on the rear license plate is a nice addition. It was actually said by Richard Hammond and not Clarkson though, see the 2008 Top Gear car of the year award (1:38 in the video).
Funnily enough, on page 176 of Chris Reed's excellent "The Magnificent Seven", he says "The white-and-orange R500 demo car became a superstar in its own right"; while the stripes are printed red on the 6 pictures spread over 3 pages.
(what the press pictures look like)
"LE60-CAT", the 620R from the collaboration with LEGO is a lighter shade of yellow than the press pictures, or even the pictures I took with my smartphone. I've had to export a still image from a video to get closer to what it looks like in person. It broke my heart a little to hear the staff (up to the CEO) call that colour combination "the Bumblebee", then it made me feel like that uber-nerd midwit in the IQ bell curve meme.
Maybe I should chill out a bit. Watch the Strig drift it here.
(what it actually looks like)
Two specimens of the Suzuki-powered family are also on display : a standard "Sprint", and a "Super Sprint". The Sprint launched for the commemoration of the 60 years since the Lotus Seven came out, it is a 60-pieces limited edition. It has a very classical oldschool look. As a House of Speed customer owns the exact same one, I've had the opportunity to see it up-close a few times over the Summer.
The Super Sprint is also a limited edition, with a more radical 60's track look, and 95bhp instead of the usual 80bhp. They have no windscreen and could be had as a one-seater.
Next was the 310R driven by
James May in the "A massive hunt" Grand Tour special in Madagascar. Other than the big tyres, bull-bar, top headlights and snorkel air intake, it's actually quite stock. It was obviously modified by Mr May himself over a single night, and absolutely not a project for Caterham Gatwick :) Driving it with no side screens was a hell of an experience, that probably made for good TV, and the larger rear wheel arches didn't leave much choice anyway.
Let's not forget about the 2013 Frankfurt Auto Show "165" demonstrator, that was actually revealed on the Suzuki stand that year. This one of kind one welcomes the visitors in the lobby area.
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